Meat skinning machines adapted to remove skin or membrane from meat, poultry or fish products have long been in existence. These machines include an elongated sharp skinning blade which is positioned adjacent a gripping roll having a plurality of teeth thereon for pulling the meat product towards the cutting edge of the blade.
Occasionally, the operators of these machines will inadvertently allow their hands or fingers to come in contact with the gripping roll whereby their hands or fingers will be drawn into contact with the skinning blade.
While safety switches and the like have been developed to permit the operator to stop the machine, and hence stop the rotation of the gripping roll, these devices do not always function automatically, and they do not function quick enough to prevent injury to the operator.
Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a safety method and means for stopping meat skinning machines which will automatically and substantially instantaneously stop the machine when the operator's hands or fingers are in contact with the danger zone that surrounds the gripping roll and the adjacent cutting edge of the skinning blade
A further object of this invention is to provide a safety method and means for stopping meat skinning machines which employs the use of an operator's glove made of a material capable of conducting electrical current and which is of low tensile strength to permit portions thereof to be torn away from the glove body when those portions become entangled in the teeth of the gripping roll.
A further object of this invention is to provide a safety method and means for stopping meat skinning machines which employs the use of an operator's glove made of a material capable of conducting electrical current which will make electrical contact with terminals on a danger area on the machines whereby electrical power will immediately be withdrawn from the machine if the glove comes into contact with said safety area.
A further object of this invention is to provide a safety method and means for stopping meat skinning machines which employs the use of an operator's glove made of a material capable of conducting electrical current which will serve to induce the machine operator to wear such gloves on both hands by providing pairs of spaced power switch terminals on the machine that can be closed only by simultaneous but separate contact between the terminals of each pair of terminals with the respective electroconducting gloves.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.